Transcript:

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in 2017 five guys rode three and a half

thousand miles across the atlantic ocean

to break a world record

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it's natural to feel nervous because you

know it's going to be the biggest

expedition in my life

along the way we encountered huge

mechanical issues

rough seas

horrendous weather

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and social problems

teams

arguably and this is our story

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teammate duncan and i met when we drove

to skipper's house in amsterdam a few

months before the expedition would start

we'd meet the other team members on the

way

we were the atlantic allies for the

mission to row from europe to south

america in under 50 days

over a weekend we received a crash

course in ocean rowing

with demonstrations of life on board the

boats

the routine

demonstrations of safety equipment

and the routine for different groups on

work and rest

after weeks of back and forth we

assembled in portugal in early december

and set about preparing the boat

we took rows our eight meter long boats

out for sea trials and brought as much

fresh food to keep ourselves in the best

condition for the expedition

we've not known each other long only a

matter of weeks

but together started to get to grips

with what this challenge was all about

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after 10 days of preparing and waiting

for the right weather it finally sets

off

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the first few weeks were challenging as

we endured sea sickness getting used to

a very simple routine of two hours

rowing followed by two hours of rest

our bodies didn't take very well to it

straight away

as our hands developed calluses that

joint

between rowing shifts we get two hours

to sleep eat and wash all the salt water

off us from the waves

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the seats were padded but it didn't

replace the saws we've developed a

repetitive motion

routine was just bearable

we're about

50 miles north of lanzarote and stopping

so at the moment we literally have to

steer the boat like this

after a seven hour long battle in rough

seas we finally landed in tenerife on

christmas day

recharging problems that impacted our

safety and navigation equipment

and a broken rudder that meant we

couldn't steer it

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we were dejected

it looked like the expedition was off

we started contacting families and

friends to tell them that months of

preparation had been lost

but against all odds we found a workshop

that could repair our broken rudder

and engineers who could rectify charging

problems

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it was late december we got ourselves

prepared to go again and get the boat

sea ready and lowered back into the

water

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the world record is off but the

expedition is still going

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we've had

probably one of the calmest days we've

had so far and a chance to get out of

the sun

so first of all we've had two drive-bys

which is two ships who'd come in within

two nautical miles of us um come to

first one came to

rescue us because the coast guard said

that our republic was going on when it

wasn't and the second one just came in

close just to see who we were pop up on

their identification system

what else happened oh we saw a whale

yesterday we saw um uh

within about 10 meters as well just

popped apart nowhere

blowed a load of water probably one of

the best wildlife experiences we've had

and then

last night we got attacked by flying

fish for about

four hours bombarding us with various

size fish

duncan got hit in the head with a pretty

sizable fish which

which he said felt like a

punch

and the fish had the audacity to not

even hang around

but the calm weather didn't last very

long

so we had probably one of our hardest

nights last night

and we had

some pretty big waves spent most of the

evening being

soaking wet

two-hour shifts we're just constantly

covered in water

being thrown around by a massive swell

behind us

waves coming to uh

to our right hand side as well pretty

exhausted right now

instead of it getting better things went

from bad to worse

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where to stop okay so we're now like two

days away from stopping cape verde which

will be our second stop

um because we're not managing to get

enough power

um at the minute which

yeah it's been hard i'm not gonna lie

actually

we had to stop again in power anchor um

two nights since lands are open

due to not enough power then be crammed

up in in this tiny cabin here

with you know two other blokes and three

of us all together over the six foot

it's it's ridiculous that sort of it's

almost like a throwaway comment like oh

you're on power anchor

until you've done it it is so horrendous

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team's arguing

but

i'm sure

the repairs we made to the solar panels

didn't solve the charging issues

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we limped into the port and set about

getting our boat repaired

the expedition again looked uncertain

there's no guarantee we would be able to

get the issue sorted this time

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what not prepared for

was how many things were going to go

wrong and to what scale

and that really is the essence of ocean

road i guess and the challenge um is

getting through

yeah getting through those issues

and

prevailing

yeah the world record's off but

end of the day that was always added

actually the challenge is to wear across

the atlantic ocean which is what we're

doing

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but after seven days of not knowing

we've got the green light the solar

panels were fixed and so we could

prepare for the final leg

rowing to south america

we're exhausted the physical and

emotional challenge of this expedition

was really starting to show

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um we're coming up to day 50 and we're

about 24 hours away from a thousand mile

point by a thousand nautical miles

between us and french guyana so

come up to the home straight also for

rental purposes it's the

last day of january tomorrow again so

that'll be another month we've got other

way that'll be the second

and looking like an estimated time of

arrival of the 14th of february in

french guyana

the ocean has given us a huge battle but

we're gonna make it set to world records

after we leave cape verde we get some

incredible news

no team has ever rode from africa to

south america before

so if we make it unsupported we'll set a

world record

but the excitement is short-lived when

the roller skate bearings on the seats

give way meaning we can't use our legs

for the final thousand miles of the road

and our luck got even worse when we bend

a rigger that holds the oars in place

meaning that one of the three positions

is now out of action

but we keep on pushing it's nothing

compared to what we've just been through

and we're determined to make it to the

finish rose's phone has a few curveballs

in the last couple of days but we're

still taking in our stride and

i don't know i really think after

tomorrow i think we'll be on the home

street that's i think how i'm gonna feel

uh so yeah i'm just really excited

actually

after over 50 days at sea our bodies are

bashed and bruised

as you can see the weather's pretty

shitty here

seven days away from french guyana

and

the rain has just come

the sun in salt water has really taken a

toll on our bodies in the boat

and then the current slows as we get

nearer to the finish line

meaning that the arrival date keeps

getting pushed back

so we clear some stairways off the hole

to improve our speed

50 miles away from south america

and we've just rode over three and

as we edge closer to south america the

excitement really starts to melt

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we finished the expedition looking

nothing like when we set out

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what really matters to us

is that we faced our adversary and came

away triumphant

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